Manual steering swap combo!

[sinix3]

i realise this is kind of a dead thread but im wondering how the swap went or if you even did it. im putting a klze into my car and want to suck as much power as i can out of it and manual steering would help that little bit. so yeah if you did the swap i have a few questions for you

[MrMazda92]

He didn't finish his... a few others have done it, although AFAIK they're all on dedicated track cars. If I can find a manual rack with the same ratio, I'll take the time to try it for myself. It's not a high priority for me though.

[mitmaks]

For daily driver I'd stick with p/s

[crazycanadian]

My 323 came with a manual rack. Steering effort wasnt bad. lock to lock ratio sucks. autocrossong with it sucks. You have to move the
steering wheel so much that its hard to stay a head
during fast transisions.

I went from the manual rack to a depowered 4
cylinder rack. steering effort sucked. it was far
to difficult to turn the wheel fast while racing.
i had 4 people drive the car and they all agreed. the car needed power steering.

I installed power steering and repowered my rack.
My 1/4 mile times didnt chanage. the power loss
from adding a power steering pump was
Unnoticeable. Steering effort was much better. the
4 cylinder rack was stil a little slow lock to lock.

this year I instaled a gs rack. Its been the best mod i have
done when it comes to steering racks and over all steering feel.

[Mooneggs]

This is what I've been saying all along! At least another hardcore autocrosser agrees with me

When it comes to autocrossing, KEEP the power steering! I promise it's worth it!

[Josh]

Don't say that on CP. the hardcore Auto X'rs all sport the manual rack. I for one rather enjoy the the shorter GS rack ratio, but I think that it is missing a progressive setup. The Pro is a stiffer more controllable wheel at high speeds or high RPM's the Con is that the GS rack it too loose at high rpms or speeds. I am still looking for an alternative. the 1st and 2nd gen rx7's offered a progressive rack one off of RPM the other off of speed. Would take some converting to do it correctly with mounting the pump. some guys swap to an electric MR2 pump, but seems no one that I have come across has gotten the progressive part to work correctly. The other options I have been looking into is the 3rd gen RX7 uses a larger pulley and a reducer, or the Mazda 3 uses an electric pump that is progressive but I am still looking into the electronics on that one as well. I think swapping out to an electric progressive pump utilizing our rack would be the best option. I am pretty sure I can do it, I just haven't bought any parts yet.

[mx3matt]

the mazda 3 and 5 both utilize electric power steering, nothing but a headache so far. big recalls initially replacing the "pump" and hardlines. the pump itself has its own brain(module) that in conjunction with the ecu progressively runs the power steering.

nothing but a damn headache if you ask me.

[Josh]

^^ true, but if you get the replacement for the earlier pumps it can work. They are run off of the Speed sensor for the progressive, other guys I have seen run them are running them constant. I think it could be easy to do. There is a system that is customizable but is 700 bucks, from the same makers of the RX8 full electric PS rack.

[Mooneggs]

At the end of the day I guess it just comes down to personal preference and your own driving style

[300zxrb26dett]

Yep thats true. I have a removed all P/S stuff from my car and disassembled/depowered the rack as well and its not that bad at all. I daily drive it as well.

Having less stuff in the engine bay and not having a bunch of crap to potentially leak oil all over the place is worth it for me. Steering effort is increased for sitting still, but while rolling even slowly its reasonable, and normal driving its not even noticed.

[crazycanadian]

Yep thats true. I have a removed all P/S stuff from my car and disassembled/depowered the rack as well and its not that bad at all. I daily drive it as well.

Having less stuff in the engine bay and not having a bunch of crap to potentially leak oil all over the place is worth it for me. Steering effort is increased for sitting still, but while rolling even slowly its reasonable, and normal driving its not even noticed.

When you get autocrossing and have to make quick transissions that where you'll notices the down fall of the increased steering effort... You are right its not overly bad for daily driving... Mine wasn't.. But once I got up to competition speeds it was horrible... I had 3 other people drive my car and they all said the same thing..

[Josh]

Having a stiff wheel makes you a man, and gives you nice forearms.

[300zxrb26dett]

When you get autocrossing and have to make quick transissions that where you'll notices the down fall of the increased steering effort... You are right its not overly bad for daily driving... Mine wasn't.. But once I got up to competition speeds it was horrible... I had 3 other people drive my car and they all said the same thing..

Yeah I dont race mine so its fine, If I ever do, then I would consider reinstalling it with a GS rack, but since I have an escort I would have to switch steering columns as well to use a GS rack....

Having a stiff wheel makes you a man, and gives you nice forearms.

free workout while your driving.

[MrMazda92]

Having a stiff wheel makes you a man, and gives you nice forearms.

Worked for me driving that Civic every day.

If you time your turns properly, you can avoid almost all increased effort from a manual rack as well. I wish we had a manual rack option that maintained the GS rack ratio, without simply depowering the GS rack...

[kulluminati777]

for a dedicated DRAG STRIP ok but anything else track/autoX/DD please no!!! Who even considers stuff like no P/S. That is one of the worst ideas since windows vista `` Oh looked i freed up 1.2 hp´´